Spire West customers to see reduced bills

(From Missouri Public Service Commission)

To reflect estimated changes in the wholesale cost of natural gas as well as a change in the company’s Actual Cost Adjustment (ACA) factor, Spire West customers of Spire Missouri, Inc. d/b/a Spire will see natural gas rates change under a filing that takes effect on November 16, 2023.

The ACA factor is a mechanism which tracks any over-collection or under-collection of actual natural gas costs over a 12 month period. The net over- or under-collected balances are subsequently either refunded or collected the next year.

 

Spire West residential customers currently pay approximately $1.08 per Ccf (per hundred cubic feet) of natural gas. Under this filing, the rate will drop to approximately $1.02 per Ccf. According to Spire Missouri’s filing, compared to existing rates and assuming normal usage, Spire estimates the PGA rate for Spire West will decrease the average monthly bill of the typical residential customer by $3.48 (3.06%). Such bill impacts may be less or more depending on a customer’s actual usage, which is primarily affected by weather.

The cost of natural gas from wholesale suppliers generally makes up approximately 50% to 55% of a customer’s total monthly natural gas bill. The wholesale cost of natural gas (the cost your local natural gas company must pay to its suppliers for natural gas) is not regulated by the Missouri Public Service Commission. 

The wellhead cost of natural gas is unregulated and is primarily driven by supply, demand and the weather. The Missouri Public Service Commission does conduct an annual regulatory review to ensure that regulated natural gas companies make prudent decisions in securing natural gas supplies for their customers.

Spire West provides natural gas service to approximately 537,000 customers in Andrew, Barry, Barton, Bates, Buchanan, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Dade, DeKalb, Greene, Henry, Howard, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, McDonald, Moniteau, Pettis, Platte, Ray, Saline, Stone and Vernon counties.